


si vis amari

by faerialchemist



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/F, Fluff, MaiLee Week 2021, Makeup, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Pining, Romance, also if you catch my (pretty obvious) hamlet quote i will either cheer or die, it's about the intimacy of putting paint on your friend's lips okay, sooooo much silent pining, there is a very niche ty lee headcanon in this so pls be nice to me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-09
Updated: 2021-01-09
Packaged: 2021-03-13 11:47:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28652985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/faerialchemist/pseuds/faerialchemist
Summary: Ty Lee's hands shake, sometimes. At least Mai is there to guide them for her.(Written for Day 3 of Mailee Week 2021: Painting.)
Relationships: Azula & Ty Lee (Avatar), Mai & Ty Lee (Avatar), Mai/Ty Lee (Avatar)
Comments: 23
Kudos: 45





	si vis amari

**Author's Note:**

> written for @ rllyaangrlly on tumblr. she peer pressured me into doing this and i thank her for it

~*~

For all her talent as an acrobat, Ty Lee had always struggled with precision. She admired Mai’s ability to send a blade slicing through the air with deadly, pinpoint aim. She also recognized it was an ability she herself would never be able to replicate. So Ty Lee focused on smaller things. Simpler goals. Ones more… manageable. Like braiding her hair, every morning and every night. The repetitive task taught her hands to remain steady. Even. Not shaking, not fumbling, never wavering.

In some ways, Ty Lee supposed she didn’t mind her struggle. She’d grown accustomed to it, for one, but it also… it made her different from her sisters. There was nothing more ‘Ty Lee’ than letting a vase fall through her fingers and shatter because her hands refused to grip it properly.

_You can hold onto a tightrope,_ they’d cry, _so why can’t you hold onto a pen?_

It wasn’t the same. But Ty Lee couldn’t explain how or why. So she didn’t.

Maybe her struggle with… finer motions was an inconvenience, then. A nuisance. Even - Even a _problem_. But it was a problem distinctly her own, and thus Ty Lee had long since learned to work around it.

Of course, she hadn’t expected that she would wind up in Ba Sing Se, of all cities, putting on extravagant Kyoshi warrior makeup to prevent her identity from being discovered by the Dai Li.

“Sit tight, girls,” Azula ordered, adjusting a golden headpiece that sat in stark contrast to her dark hair. One not shaped like a flame. “I need to have a private discussion with Long Feng. I expect you both to be fully prepared when I return.”

Oh, spirits. How much time would Azula grace them with? That information determined if Ty Lee’s levels of paranoia would plateau or continue to skyrocket.

She was struggling to hold a slender paintbrush. One with red liquid coating the end of it, the color ready to be smoothed across her lips the second her hand would stop _quivering_. The white paint had been - had been more manageable, as it had gone over her entire face and most of her neck, but an area as small as her lips? With a brush as fragile as this?

The action would require precision. A steady hand. Something Ty Lee simply could not muster that morning.

Most mornings, as of late.

She dreaded Azula’s criticism already.

“Have fun,” Mai drawled, waving at Azula without shifting her attention away from her reflection in the mirror before her. Ty Lee watched her finish off the black paint that lined across her eyebrows and up over her forehead, almost completing Mai’s pseudo-transformation into a Kyoshi warrior.

Azula rolled her eyes. “Don’t be ridiculous. We’re on a mission here.”

A mission for Ty Lee to _not_ flick red paint all over herself and Mai as her hand shook. And shook. And wouldn’t stop shaking.

She placed the brush down, fingers twitching. She could wait. At least until Azula left.

“Oh, you know me.”

Ty Lee glanced at Mai out of the corner of her eye as her friend spoke. She watched Mai pick up her own slender paintbrush, smoothing the red liquid across her bottom lip before tilting her hand upwards to glaze over the top one. The radiant color seemed to flood across them both, and Ty Lee licked her own lips, still distinctly lacking paint of their own.

“I’m _always_ the comedian,” Mai concluded dryly.

Azula sniffed. “Of course you are.” She sighed. “But in all seriousness, girls. You should be ready by the time I return. There are several key components of our plan that we must enact today, and we haven’t a minute to waste.”

Azula didn’t wait for either girl’s confirmation before she left their room. Ty Lee didn’t watch her go, though of course there was no need. The sound of green skirts shuffling together followed the princess out. The rest was silence.

Ty Lee dropped her attention back to the red-tipped brush still resting on the table in front of her. Azula was no longer watching. Waiting. Which meant she could - she could do it now. She could hold the paintbrush. She would be _fine_.

Of course, Mai was still there, Ty Lee noted with a brief glance to her left. Tracing her lips effortlessly, her grip on her own brush firm and steady as her hand moved with utter exactness and precision.

Ty Lee bit back a sigh as she stared at her paintbrush. Untouched. The scarlet liquid on the tip of the soft fibers had now begun to dry.

“I can do it for you,” Mai offered. Her voice was monotone and her expression flat, betraying little - nothing - about her true motivations. She made eye contact with Ty Lee through the mirror before them, rubbing her lips together before she spoke again. “If you want me to.”

Ty Lee reached for her brush. It slipped through her fingers within seconds, spattering crimson across the wooden table. She winced. “It’s not - I normally don’t have so much trouble,” she said after a pause. Her voice was soft. Hesitant. _Embarrassing_. “Every day, I - I do different exercises.” Her intensity and haste sharpened with each word, paranoia seeping into her bones. “Braiding my hair, or - or writing in a diary. I work with my hands, I _use_ them -”

“You don’t have to explain,” Mai interrupted. She placed her paintbrush down before turning to face Ty Lee. Her lips glistened with dazzling scarlet, and Ty Lee had to forcibly rip her gaze upwards. “You don’t need to prove yourself.” She then picked up Ty Lee’s brush, dipping it into the tiny container of red liquid. “Not to me, at least.”

Ty Lee watched a drop of paint slowly ooze downward before splattering onto the vanity table. Mai didn’t seem to care, and Ty Lee looked back up to meet her friend’s eyes. “I -”

Ty Lee halted, her voice vanishing in her throat. Mai hid her emotions well, but for the briefest of seconds, she could have sworn she saw…

“Hold still,” Mai instructed. “And part your lips some.”

Ty Lee did not hesitate to do as told. The red liquid was cool against her lips when Mai touched the brush to them, and she was relieved the white face paint already adorning her skin was there to hide the blood rushing to her cheeks.

Ty Lee hesitated, then reached out, gently cupping Mai’s free hand atop her friend’s lap between both of her own. Mai paused for a near-imperceptible second before her fingers curled around Ty Lee’s in response.

“I think you wear the Kyoshi look best,” Mai commented after she lowered the paintbrush, her tone once again dry. “Mind giving me some advice?”

Ty Lee laughed. “Don’t be silly! You look much more beautiful in red than I do.”

Mai rolled her eyes. “I’m not Azula. You don’t need to flatter me.”

Ty Lee gave Mai’s hand a gentle squeeze. “I know I don’t.” Her eyes dropped to Mai’s lips, the red paint still shining. She dragged her gaze back upwards, looking Mai in the eye, and -

Her breath hitched.

_Oh, Agni_.

Mai stared at her for a moment longer. The corners of her ruby lips twitched upwards into a smile. “Thank you.”

Ty Lee’s hands weren’t shaking anymore.

~*~

**Author's Note:**

> why yes, i do headcanon ty lee as having minor dcd/dyspraxia that affects her fine motor skills and tends to flare up when she's anxious. thank you for asking


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